The conservative Right Wing News asked conservative bloggers to select the 25 worst figures in American history. As they put it:
Out of all the gangsters, serial killers, mass murderers, incompetent & crooked politicians, spies, traitors, and ultra left-wing kooks in all of American history — have you ever wondered who the worst of the worst was? Well, we here at RWN wondered about that, too, and that’s why we decided to email more than a hundred bloggers to get their opinions.
And here are their results, in reverse rank, followed by the number of votes that person received as the worst of the worst:
23) Saul Alinsky (7)
23) Bill Clinton (7)
23) Hillary Clinton (7)
19) Michael Moore (7)
19) George Soros (8)
19) Alger Hiss (8)
19) Al Sharpton (8)
13) Al Gore (9)
13) Noam Chomsky (9)
13) Richard Nixon (9)
13) Jane Fonda (9)
13) Harry Reid (9)
13) Nancy Pelosi (9)
11) John Wilkes Booth (10)
11) Margaret Sanger (10)
9) Aldrich Ames (11)
9) Timothy McVeigh (11)
7) Ted Kennedy (14)
7) Lyndon Johnson (14)
5) Benedict Arnold (17)
5) Woodrow Wilson (17)
4) The Rosenbergs (19)
3) Franklin Delano Roosevelt (21)
2) Barack Obama (23)
1) Jimmy Carter (25)
What I find interesting about this list is that over half the people on it are still alive and kicking, which to me shows the partisan focus of these conservatives. I mean, Carter and Obama are the number one and two worst people in all of American history? Every single one of the current Democratic leadership makes the list? Seriously? But John Hinckley, Jr., who shot conservative patron saint Ronald Reagan, didn’t even make the cut?
13 Comments
Benedict Arnold being up there makes me think of how poor the American Education system is. Believe it or not, without Arnold the American Revolution would have been crushed rather quickly. At the very least we probably wouldn’t have won the Battle of Saratoga.
Also I don’t get Gore being “worse” then Clinton. I guess its worse to fight Global Warming then to get head in the Oval office.
Hang on, last I heard the right-wing bloggers were saying Obama wasn’t an American and now they vote him second worst American of all time. Do wish they would make their minds up!!!
On a serious note, WOW!!! that’s just a dumb-ass list. I’m English and I could come up with a list more reflective of America’s history.
I think Scott and Bard are both on the right track. It is interesting that so few names on the list are historical and I think it is a telling commentary on the lack of true understanding on the part of those polled as to the history of this country. It’s also instructive as to how effective the right wing conspiracy is being in getting its message across to their “believers.” Invective and vitriol can carry the day when one is working with naive and ignorant people.
I like that FDR has more votes than timothy mcveigh and john wilkes booth put together. that seems reasonable.
Pardon the language, but I’m finding the right wing to be more fucking stupid, more willing to be brainwashed and more hateful every day. You cannot debate them with facts, because they disbelieve them. You cannot get them to debate WITH specifics, because they only speak in vague generalities and platitudes. It’s frustrating.
I had the pleasure of debating the topic of the near Ground Zero Islamic cultural center with a couple of morons yesterday. And even AFTER I got the to acquiesce that it would be unconstitutional for a government agency to block the project, they still spent all day (via blog comments) demonizing the whole religion and countering their very agreement that this issue is not one of constitutionality.
And when one of the dopes started in with “czars” I knew it was a lost cause. He was brainwashed to believe that these really are “czars”, that Obama is the first to use them, and that their purpose is to turn our nation into some fascist and socialist country…or something.
The only thing that surprises me about this list and these comments is tht people are surprised by the information. I wish I could see some evidence that this tide of propaganda could be stopped — but I’m beginning to lose faith in that possibility.
I myself had a discussion on another blog site on Sammy’s subject of the ground zero center and their reasoning was that it was being insensitive. I guess since the all of the right wing media has pretty much cornered the market on insensitivity that they will close up the doors and move out of the country any day now, but I’m not holding my breath. While it could be construed that way, one could also see it as an offering as a way of peace.
I found this link for a film produced after WWII by the War Dept. about the dangers of fascist overtones in government. It has an eerily chilling similarity to today’s politics. Definitely worth the twenty minutes to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23X14HS4gLk
In other news, the number one thing they love most is “lamp”
John Wilkes Booth surprises me as he assassinated Lincoln. Wasn’t Lincoln the President who wanted the slaves freed? And aren’t the Democrats of the South now the Republicans of the south?
On the blogs I get Pearl Harbor: Japanese killing off our soldiers. Ah, yes, but didn’t Turmen wipe out 150,000 children, women and the men too feeble to go to war? And maim 100s of thousands more?
9/11 wiped out over 3000 people at the World Trade Center. None that I heard of were children.
Bush’s war in Iraq that had nothing to do with 9/11 wiped out 600,000 men, women and children in three years by 2006. Who knows how many since then?
And Bush killed off over 4000 armed service people who didn’t need to be in Iraq. Think of the number he has maimed from this country who were there and had their lives ruined. He has done much better as far as killing and maiming Americans than Osama was able to do
Where is the outcry over Bush’s killing Americans?
70% of our population oppose the Mosque/70% of our population watch Fox News Lies. 30% of our population can actually read and study.
I’m very glad I’m not alligned to a party. Now the Democrats are coming out saying that Obama should not state the truth (not in those words)about the Mosque
I keep reading books about Obama, can’t wait for the Woodward one coming out at the end of September. I’m on “The Bridge” right now. He has a few minor flaws. His charisma was spread very far afield amoung conservatives, etc (hence Richard Lugar supporting him)
Of the intellects, both sides were supporting him.
For some more poll results of conservative bloggers, see
http://centristzealot.com/2010/08/worst-and-best/
@DaveTN, I agree with you, and have argued, regarding the NYC Islamic cultural center, that I can think of no better way to show our greatness as a nation and how true we are to our Constitutional ideals.
The #1 and #2 worst people in the history of America both have Nobel Peace Prizes. America is clearly on the up and up.
Best comment ever! Thanks Lewis. I totally cracked up laughing.
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